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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: file · season · capital · kid · craft · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. file — a tool
  3. season — in sport
  4. kid — to tease
  5. season — of the year
  6. wind — moving air
  7. craft — a skill
  8. kid — child
  9. file — a document
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. file — a line of people
  18. craft — boats

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com